Diet sodas are losing popularity as more people switch to water, juicing

When you make that switch from a sugary beverage for a diet beverage, youre often not changing other things in your diet, says lead researcher Sara Bleich, associate professor in the department of health policy and management at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Bleich and other Johns Hopkins researchers used data from the 1999-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. For this study, published Thursday in the American Journal of Public Health, they analyzed participants recollection of what theyd had to eat and drink over the past 24 hours. They found that about one in five overweight or obese American adults regularly drinks diet beverages — that includes soda and low-calorie juices, teas and the like — which is about twice the amount that healthy-weight adults are drinking. On the one hand, thats encouraging. People are being told if you need to cut calories from your diet, discretionary beverages are a great place to start, Bleich says. Diet soda consumption has increased steadily since 1965, when just 3 percent of Americans were regularly drinking the stuff, the study authors write. Sales of diet soda actually declined 7 percent last year , but Bleich thinks that just means habitual diet soda drinkers are switching to the many flavored teas, juices and vitamin-enhanced waters currently on store shelves. For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://www.today.com/health/diet-soda-probably-not-going-help-you-lose-weight-2D11940230

Diet soda is probably not going to help you lose weight

A shift in habits When meeting the company’s investors in October, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi noted that there has been “a fundamental shift in consumer habits and behaviors.” She also said the decrease in popularity of diet drinks has been happening faster than the company initially expected. Industry analysts report that the declining trend was already seen 10 years ago but has become more rapid in the last few years because of the increasing number of health-conscious consumers. Analyst Hester Jeon of IBISWorld published a study on soda use at the end of last year. She says that the drop in diet soda sales can be partially attributed to the growing concerns around processed artificial sweeteners. For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://www.naturalnews.com/043558_diet_sodas_water_juicing.html

In the study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, overweight drinkers of diet beverages in the United States ate 1,965 in food calories a day compared to 1,874 calories among heavy people who drank regular sugar-sweetened beverages. Among obese diet beverage drinkers, those who consumed low- or no-calorie drinks ate 2,058 calories a day in food versus 1,897 food calories for those who had regular drinks, researchers said. Such differences were statistically significant, they added. Lead author Sara Bleich said the results, when paired with other research, suggest that artificial sweeteners may affect people’s metabolism or cravings, although more study is needed. She acknowledged that people could be deciding to eat more since they are saving calories with their diet drinks. For the original version including any supplementary images or video, visit http://www.foxnews.com/health/2014/01/17/overweight-americans-who-pick-diet-drinks-eat-more-food-study-finds/